Hi Duckie
Well... there seems to be some doubt over these "harder" Christmas smurfs. As far as I know there is the wreath smurf and also the praying pair like this. The market seems to have been flooded with them the last year or so and I have had a few discussions about them with very experienced smurfers.
The quality of the molds and the painting is normally very good but as you say, the material is much harder than the originals and also they all tend to look brand new. The markings also appear to be very clear where as the known fakes of the Christmas smurfs do tend to have blurred markings. There are also raws available as well, I myself have the raw wreath smurf.
The fact that there are so many around and the condition of them certainly makes me think these have in fact been made much more recently than the early 80's. Whether the original molds have been used and who is making them, I have no idea and whether they are classed as genuine is again debateable.
It is virtually impossible to tell them apart from a photo, it is not until you hold and feel them you notice the difference.
I'm sorry as I seem to be forever pointing out negative things these days but I do feel it important that everyone is aware of the different issues.
